In an extensive new article on FilmJournal.com, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix director David Yates discusses taking the lead in a production as massive as OotP and gives his thoughts on the process, actors and result. Stepping into the directorial shoes after Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón and Mike Newell, Mr. Yates first worked very closely with also first time Harry Potter crew member, Michael Goldenerg, to work on the screenplay.
Goldenberg stepped up to the plate when series scripter Steve Kloves decided to take an installment off. “I’m not absolutely sure how that all worked out, because Michael was contracted before I started,” says Yates. “But I certainly had a great time working with him because he’s a hugely collaborative and sensitive writer. He was a good choice for this assignment. He’d written a version of Peter Pan. He’d worked on Contact. He’s a very emotional writer, and I think, because this is quite an emotional story, that’s why David and the studio invited him along. Some have compared this to the earlier Potters.”
Mr. Yates also discusses the difficult task of cutting certain parts of the story in order to create a “streamlined narrative…” for the film. He goes on to say on this subject:
“It was heartbreaking,” the director-in-the-driver’s-seat concedes. “When you adapt these stories, you realize that they can tend toward the episodic simply because you have all these lovely chapters that are very character-driven and you end up serving a lot of different stories. Michael wanted to feel we had one complete, unified, emotional story. That was our ambition.”
Having worked on “Order of the Phoenix” for more than two and a half years, Mr. Yates is not quite ready to give up the directors chair yet. Currently working on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he draws a parallel between himself and Chris Columbus saying:
“I’m doing a Chris Columbus. He did the first two films back-to-back, and he had this crazy schedule where he was dubbing One while he was prepping Two. I’ve been doing the same with Five and Six. We start shooting in September.”
You can read the entirety of this excellent new interview here.
We’re five movies in and some people still don’t seem to understand the difference between a book and movie? They cannot possibly adapt everything from a book into a movie. That would be a really boring movie. Instead, they take what is essential to the story, and then adapt THAT into a film. If you want the entire story, then read the book… No matter how many times it’s said, people still get upset that their favorite part is missing…
THe NY article about David Yates is so informative. The kids love him and he loves them back by giving them great praise indeed. Typically, Dan got the most praise while Rupert is just mentioned for his comic timing, whatever that means.
BTW, do you think they’ll get Yates for the last movie? We’ll have an ala Jackson trilogy cause he directed all the LOTR films.
Do you think they left in the part where Umbridge inspects McGonagall or where Harry has his career advice date… ‘cause those where really funny parts.
“I don’t understand because several months ago I read that he has shot a 3 hour long movie.”
Yates also said, in the very same article that you quote, that he knew he would have to lose 45 mins in the edit.
It’s entirely possible that a decision was made very early on that they were going to go for a shorter theatrical cut and save the additional scenes for an extended edition for the fans.
I’m doing a “Chris Columbus” means he’s doing two in a row. And as for the LOTR stuff, my husband says the movies, while great, are not exactly faithful to the books – they’re one filmmaker’s vision of them. I can’t comment because I’ve never read the books.
I agree with Lance, though. Can we not get past the fact that some things have to go when putting a book on the screen?
The director seems interesting, and I hope that the movie will be visually exciting and that the performances are great. Just a few more weeks….
"George," said Fred, "I think we've outgrown full-time education."[br]"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," said George lightly.[br]"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" asked Fred.[br]"Definitely," said George.[br]
We’re five movies in and some people still don’t seem to understand the difference between a book and movie? They cannot possibly adapt everything from a book into a movie. That would be a really boring movie. Instead, they take what is essential to the story, and then adapt THAT into a film. If you want the entire story, then read the book… No matter how many times it’s said, people still get upset that their favorite part is missing…